Speaking at UC Irvine less than a month after the Muslim Student Union’s “Israel Apartheid Week,” Washington Post managing editor Philip Bennett says the media is to blame for Islamic “misconceptions”—and the Washington Post is actively trying to hire more Muslim journalists.

“Six of 10 Americans, according to a 2007 ABC Poll, don’t understand the basic tenets of Islam,” Bennett said.

He attributed this to the lack of Muslims working in American newsrooms.

“At the Post I want more Muslim readers and I want more Muslim journalists,” he said.

Words poorly translated from Arabic to English are a big source of confusion caused by the lack of Muslim voices in the American media, according to Bennett.

Zeyad Maasarani, 22, a Muslim reporter for California’s most circulated Muslim publication, Southern California in Focus, agrees with Bennett that terms like “jihad,” “madrasa” and “hijab” are a big source of the public’s misunderstanding of Islam.

“Jihad means holy war, which is the definition that most Americans know, but it also means struggle, and valiant attempt,” Maasarani said.

One such word that has been contentiously debated in newsrooms is “Islamist,” which generally refers to a political movement governed by Islamic law. Bennett said at the Washington Post editors still have not decided whether to add it to their style book.

Six and a half years after the 9/11 atrocities, and the Washington Post is still dithering over the word “Islamist.”

As we’ve covered extensively, the Washington Post has been promulgating some of the most whitewashed, willfully blind coverage of Islam of any major US newspaper, soliciting op-eds from Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood leaders and antisemitic comments from the likes of Arun Gandhi. It’s not surprising in the least to see them rushing to embrace the most militant and extreme elements of Islam, at a school notorious for its radical Muslim student groups.

The Washington Post had zero coverage of the disgusting “Israel Apartheid Week” at UC Irvine, by the way.

UPDATE at 3/5/08 9:19:19 am:

Speaking of reporter Zeyad Maasarani, here’s his latest article for In Focus, about Southern California Muslims demonstrating in support of Hamas, featuring an all-star cast of radical Islamic front groups like Al Awda, the Muslim American Society, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and sponsored by the Stalinist front group International ANSWER: Californians rally in support of Gazans.

UPDATE at 3/5/08 10:23:41 am:

Also see: WaPo Editor: ‘I Want More Muslim Journalists’ - NewsBusters.org.